The Beaver & Mullet Canadian Bistro
1184 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

Cupcakes
1168 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC

I have started to wonder… Have I blogged literally all the restaurants in Denman Street? Nah, wishful thinking! A lot of times restaurants come and go and we always play a catch up game. Of course, there are also restaurants that I haven’t visited for other reasons. For example, in that area, I haven’t been yet to Westender Korean Cafe, Vina Vietnamese, Central Bistro & Lounge, et al. Why? In some cases, because the restaurant does not entice me; in other cases, the food type does not entice me. Of course, I might be overlooking something and, if so, I will always appreciate if readers point those places out! But back to this post. On a Friday, PO and I were looking for a good eats place in Denman and we walked all the way from Robson towards English Bay and then we remembered The Beaver and Mullet Canadian Bistro (Beaver and Mullet).

“Remembered”? Well, it happens that last year, it was under remodelation (don’t remember if it was under the same name) and, when it re-opened, there was a “Pay what you think it’s worth” type special. However, they had no menu outside so we didn’t even know what to expect. We weren’t that adventurous that day. However, when we found out they had a website, we were able to take a quick look at what they offer and, this time, we were good to go.

The day we went, when we arrived, it was almost empty. Given we could sit pretty much anywhere, we ended up on the table closest to the window for natural light. Not sure if it was because of the time of day or what not but, at that moment, service felt quite casual, which works fine for me. After given the menu, it was still a bit of shuffling as to what to order.

Now, notice the full name of the restaurant. What is a “Canadian Bistro”? In fact, what defines “Canadian” cuisine? Given our cultural composition, that’s something I have never been able to even imagine but, instead, just focus what is available. But, of course, if somebody knows, by all means, drop your comment at the end!

But, back to the menu, they had a salmon dish (representing BC?), Montreal smoked meat sandwich (representing Quebec?), grilled cheese sandwich, mac and cheese and a pot pie (not sure but, anyway, if it is there!), among others. However, we had an odd time deciding what to order. How so? Despite these dishes sound generic, the way the menu was listed was actually enticing to order more than one! Don’t know how to explain that, it just happened. In the end…

We started off with their BBQ Guinness wings (other variants include salt & pepper, hot, sweet chili and stupid hot). One thing that stood up right away in an odd way was the size of the wings. Yes, they were really small; however, fortunately, it wasn’t “by piece count”. If it was, I am sure a lot of people would have cried shenanigans by now! As for the wing itself, it was quite evident it wasn’t fried as it didn’t have that crispy texture; however, the end result, at least, wasn’t dry and still juicy to an extent. If it wasn’t because of the size, I would have liked it a bit more. Alas…

Moving to the mains, I ended up ordering their Canadian pot pie, which comes with a salad. While this is something I won’t have ordered under normal conditions, I did so anyway because I was curious as to what makes it Canadian! In the end, it was a chicken pot pie. In a way, it felt “simple” but, I don’t know, it wasn’t… Bad? There wasn’t anything extraordinary but, still, a decent pot pie. The only “complain” was the fact you had to pay $12 for it.

PO went for their mac and cheese. Now, it is not “just” mac and cheese; instead, there was the option to choose three “items” from a list of vegetable, cheese and meat. In other words, this was customizable (their grilled cheese sandwich could be customized the same way). Of course, I had to wonder… If I didn’t add cheese, as one of the three “items”, would it still be considered a mac-n-cheese? Anyway, in this case, PO ordered it with gouda, pesto and chicken. There was some cauliflower on top and the “burnt” crust on top was actually good as it gave some contrasting texture on top. Now, was it fresh pesto? Not sure, but didn’t matter much given it was baked. Instead, it was the fact you could actually taste the basil which I believe is what mattered. As for the chicken… Well, it was chicken… Sorry!

After finishing the meal and settling the bill, we were given some free drink tickets. Not sure if it was because I was taking pictures of the food or a common occurrence. Regardless, what do I think about the restaurant? Well, the food wasn’t bad; it felt home-y. Pricewise, some were better than others. For example, I thought the mac-n-cheese seem to be a good meal for $10 (a side salad would have been great here). Even then, I didn’t “invoke” that pay what you think it is. I am sure they have reasons to set the dishes at that price point. Would I come back? Well, at this point, not sure; but, it might be a good option as a quiet-er sports bar.

After walking out of the restaurant, something happened that might create really odd reactions, specially those who have read this blog long enough: Both PO and I looked at Cupcakes and ended up getting something from them. Yes, sky is falling!!!!

We ended up getting a pre-packed box of mini-cupcakes and took it back to the office. It is something that I wonder: how fresh are these? I took one and… Too sweet? Pointless? In the end, I didn’t change my opinion about cupcakes. While it wasn’t dry, in fact, it was moist, it was just meh. I mean, as I have mentioned before, I would have preferred petit fours over this. But why petite fours over this? Probably because I am not necessarily excited for frosting? Because I don’t necessarily like its texture? Regardless, I don’t understand the hype and, hopefully, this serves me as a reminder why I don’t care.

Dahlia Bakery
2001 4th Ave
Seattle, WA

As I have mentioned in the past, Vancouver, being so closed to the US, at times, it can be trivial for us to go there – border crossing aside, that is. So, with that in mind, I recently did a day trip just to get out of the holidays madness in town. Nothing wrong with it; except that, well, I felt I needed to be out of here. (Or, go from one madness to other madness!).

Originally, I was considering on taking a detour to Din Tan Fung for some XLB; however, when I was told there would be hour long wait, I reconsidered: Do I want to drive to another country just to line up? I would have done it had there been other people with me; no, if I was by myself. Anyway, back to Seattle, I decided to go to that one major point of interest: Pike’s Place Market. But, given I was parked a couple of blocks away and was hungry, rather than walk to the Market and search for (possible) good eats, instead, I went to a backup option which I had a small previous encounter with: Dahlia Bakery. Nope, I haven’t been there previously; rather, I was earlier this year in Lola, another restaurant under the umbrella of Tom Douglas, which Bahlia Bakery belongs to.

Now, I wasn’t sure if it was what I was expecting. Somehow, I was expecting it to be something on the lines of Thomas Haas, Bakery Nouveau, Ganache Patisserie. Heck, even Boulangerie Cho Pain. However, this is a really small place. Let me try again: You could see the kitchen, which might be partially shared with the restaurant (Dahlia, in this case, and, who knows, Serious Pie, given they are all Tom Douglas restaurants!). So, customer area, as in the place you would order and wait was limited to less than 3 square metres (or ~9 square feet). Of course, that’s not including displays, as in these:

Despite I wasn’t here for the sweets, I am sure people would bash me if I do not order some sweets. In this case, I ended up ordering a token piece before people start coming with pitchfork and torches. That one piece ended up being the Toms Famous Triple Coconut Cream Pie, which have a bite size version. At $2.50, it might be one of the priciest one bites I have had in a while so the question is whether it was worth it. In my case, it wasn’t. OK, I am not sure if it is because I have lived in tropical country but, when I read “coconut”, my expectations are different. For one, I expected some really crisp coconut flakes and some hints of coconut infused in the cream or crust. If that was the case, it definitely failed. Now, from the North American perspective of a coconut pie, well, it wasn’t that bad; however, at the same time, I have had better. Come to think, it might be related to the size rather than it being so-so. Because of the distribution of the ingredients, the cream wasn’t proportioned the same way as a regular size so it was overwhelmed by the rest.

And here is what I came for a sandwich. In this case, their roasted turkey, cream cheese, fresh cranberry sauce & arugula on stuffing spiced foccacia bread. From an ingredient perspective, everything was there. But, from an assembly perspective, it was a bit disproportionate: in some parts, I could taste the cream cheese but, on others, it was absent. Plus, on one side, the turkey was “doubled” while on another part, it was a single chunk. On that note, the turkey, despite being pure white meat, didn’t have a dry consistency; instead, it was a decent piece of it. Of course, me being Asian, I would have preferred dark meat. The selection of bread was a bit strange for me. I felt it was a bit to soft/fluffy for me. I would have preferred ciabatta instead here (which is used in their other sandwich, which is an egg salad sandwich). From a taste perspective, it is short of being a Thanksgiving in a sandwich type sandwich; however, for that, I think I would have gone for Panda Bakery’s version instead (specially considering they have “stuffing” and mashed potato, too).

Overall, once again, this is not necessarily a place for me. Probably for Mijune because she likes her sweets; in the case of savoury stuff, like sandwiches or soups, I can think of other places. So, it is a case of YMMV.

Paul Croteau Confections
650 W 41st Ave (location to be closed on 20100912)
1020 Main Street (location to be opened by end of September 2010)
Vancouver, BC

I originally had this post schedule for some time later but, due to a particular circumstance, I rescheduled it for today… That circumstance, as seen in the address information above, their currently open location will close today (i.e., September 12, 2010) so I thought I should make it available today.

As mentioned last week, I seldom attend events organized by the PR group of the restaurant. Supposedly, I was sent an invite for Paul Croteau Confections by the end of August. If I was, that email most likely ended up in /dev/null so I am not sure about the details. Regardless if I got that one or not, one thing was quite obvious: I wasn’t going to go. This is specially keeping in mind they extended the invite to those who couldn’t attend and have their goodies to be picked up later. So, does that mean this post is based on these samples? Nope. Instead, one day, I was in Richmond and took the Skytrain to go back to Downtown Vancouver. On my way I thought “Hey, isn’t there a place in Oakridge that is making a bit too much noise, right now?”. Well, since I was in no hurry, I might as well give it a try!

One thing should be mentioned right away: As seen in the picture above, they don’t have an actual storefront in Oakridge Mall; instead, it is a vending cart inside the mall. Furthermore, it will be closed and (as per report) the new location will be right above Campagnolo in Main Street, near Main Street Skytrain Station.

I am repeating myself here: Given I am not much of a desserts/sweets person, I wouldn’t have even stopped by here. Instead, I had to check with somebody who does like sweets and have her thoughts. Yup, you guessed it: Mijune!

In this picture, from left to right, paté de fruits, almond square, biscotti, macarons, chocolate sablé cookie (with the blue ribbon, also a vanilla option), grignotine and soft salted caramels. I didn’t take a picture of the marshmallow or the nougatine so… Wooops! ^_^;;;

Out of all the options available, I decided to go for three of them. It might not be representative; however, I thought it was a good reference point. These three were the macarons, the chocolate sablé cookies and grignotine.

I ended up choosing three flavours (there were several more): Lemon (?) with white chocolate, chocolate and pistachio. Sizewise, they were slightly larger than those from Bakery Nouveau to the point Mijune initially thought there were 2 macarons per package! Let’s just say she was slightly disappointed they were one per package… As for the macarons themselves, I am not sure if it falls into a comparison similar to cookies, i.e., chewy vs. crunchy. OK, bad comparison; however, the analogy somehow works. In this case, the centre of the macarons were slightly moist, as if it had a semi-soft filling. Compared to the other ones I have had previously, I fill file this under unexpected. Past that, though, the rest of the package felt into the category of fail, as there wasn’t much of the flavours they were named after. In fact, all of them had an almond taste and felt as if the only difference was the colouring.

Just when I thought I missed some pictures, I skipped also the picture of the chocolate sablé cookies! However, suffice to say that there were 5 cookies but I just thought they were regular shortbread cookies. Nothing extraordinary from any perspective.

Finally, the grignotine. Out of all the items I ordered that day, I will have to say this one was the one that won hands down. In fact, I brought some for my friend PR (not “Public Relations”, rather whom I went with to Mistral French Bistro), who likes her stuff bitter and she quite enjoyed it! These hazelnut dusted chocolate morsels were really dangerous in the sense you could eat a full container without realizing it!

Update: After this post went live, I was contacted by a representative of PC Confections. Some of the points mentioned below were dismissed/clarified and, as a result, my initial conclusion is no longer valid. Until a revisit, my initial thoughts is no longer consider valid.

I will admit that I did not order some of the items on purpose, namely the almond square (described as the chef’s personal favourite item) and paté de fruits for one reason – and that reason I believe is the major flaw for this place: price. In the case of both the paté and almond square, they were $10 a box (5 pieces each)! If we compare it to Thomas Haas, for example, they would be in the losing end as a box of 12 pieces of paté de fruit is at almost the same price! Granted, their morsels might be slightly smaller but not by much. Furthermore some items weren’t that extraordinary to begin with so I am not sure how it can command the prices listed. Is it possible I am missing the point? May be but, as I usually make reference to, my likes (and dislikes!) are at times a bit skewed compared to the most people. And, based on what I observed (and tasted), it wasn’t good enough to make me say I would like it. Still, I will give them the benefit of doubt of operating in this location and will give it a try once they open their store. Until then, it is a pass for me.

Saint Honoré Boulangerie
2335 NW Thurman Street (location visited)
315 1st Street Lake Oswego
Portland, OR

To those who haven’t realized yet, whenever I drive down to I-5, on my way back, I always bring in goodies for close friends and fellow food bloggers. So far, from the two places I have brought goodies from (check here and here), it seems it was quite well received. So, for today’s post, the challengue was the same: bring some goodies from Portland. The question is “from where?”. Since I was staying near the Uptown area, Saint Honoré Boulangerie ended up being the best option…

During my stay, I noticed this shop but I chose not to go for several reasons: too early, too late, plans to go somewhere else, etc. etc. But, finally, on my way back, I decided it might as well be a good time. See, there were other bakeries but it was also a matter of time: After all, another 5+ hours drive awaited me! Of course, there was the usual challenge of what to bring. Since I had already noticed the place was quite busy at times, I decided to check their site ahead of time and make a list of items to order. Also, given that Mijune is one of the people I stop for on my way back, I tailored those items for her, as well. (Hey, she is the queen of sweets and my reputation was on the line!). And, finally, I could only choose item that would survive that drive. I.e., I couldn’t order a Saint Honoré (yeah, paradoxical, considering this place’s name!), most cakes, etc. Well, that literally was a challenge for sorts but I was up for it!

Since I was there on a weekend, it was packed full. Almost all tables (including some outside) were taken. But, then again, I was planning to only order things to go. Alas, I was so focused on pastries that I overlook their other offerings, namely bread and sandwiches. Oh, well. However, if Saint Honoré would be a good place, that was an incentive to come back in the future!

So, box number one… From the top, chouquette, followed by two Mirliton de Rouen, then, to the left, two Gateau Orange et Gingembre and finally two almond croissant. In another box, tarte au citron and Normandy apple toast.

On that note, the tarte au citron was… Strange… Again, not sure if it was due to the transit time (it wasn’t consumed on the same day). It was citrus-y, all right but it wasn’t that smooth. The one part that caught me partially off-guard was the shell: it isn’t pastry based but almond based. As a result, it wasn’t “crunchy” but slightly grainy. However, the fact that the overall dessert wasn’t that sweet was a plus for me. As for the apple toast, it was a bit strange. Again, probably due to the transit time and so, the end result was somewhat dense. Now, the other part that threw me off a little bit was that it didn’t feel that much as a toast but, instead, a bread pudding. Once again, it wasn’t that sweet so it worked for me quite well.

I also wanted an order of 30 mini-cookies but there was some sort of communication breakdown: they weren’t sure if they had it or not. That’s why I dropped that item and, instead, noticed a bag of these: chouquettes. Think of it as a mini version of a croissant, with some rock sugar and simple syrup (not 100% sure about this, but it was sticky after handling these!). As a snack, these would be great and would certainly eat a couple of things. (Remember, not much of a sweets person!).

Back to the first big box, here, the almond croissant and the gateau orange et gingembre. The croissant wasn’t as crunchy as it could have been but, once again, I will blame the transit time plus fridge time. Still, even with that in consideration, it didn’t really work for me, as the almond taste didn’t came out. As for the gateau… Well, this was one of the items I knew I should get for Mijune and it didn’t fail. It had a really strong orange taste… Wait, make that *natural* orange taste because it had a lot of (candied?) orange peel in it (despite they say it is pureed). Now the ginger didn’t really come out so I can’t say much about that component. One note I must mention is that this is supposed to be flourless. If it is, I am quite impressed as I didn’t really miss it!

The canelet was an interesting piece of pastry. While it should have some rum in it, I didn’t taste any. Furthermore, some of the hints it should be there, like the vanilla, didn’t really popped out. However, what I really like was that custard-y texture. Yeah, I am sucker for custard so call it bias! Finally, the Mirliton de Rouen. The simplest way to describe this would be a pear tart; however, unlike some others, it had pieces of pear in it. What it has to do? Well, because they were cooked, it was really soft and, furthermore, it was moist. As a result, that moist feeling “spread out” to the rest of the pastry. Did I mention it wasn’t that sweet?

I know the way I wrote about some of the pastries was strange, i.e., there was always a “but”. However, instead of detracting itself from the overall dish, it was rather a plus. The fact that it wasn’t sugar overload (yeah, they are all pastries and what not) was, once again, a plus for me. So, from my perspective, it fit the bill. Probably not a comparison against Kreation Artisan Cake, Ganache Patisserie, Thomas Haas or Bakery Nouveau. But, it has qualities of its own which is what make it stand out from these other places. But… (Yeah, I am saying it again), it didn’t matter what I thought. Instead, what matters is what Mijune thought. So, for that, please, check *her* post!

Voodoo Doughnut
22 SW 3rd Ave
Portland, OR

Voodoo Doughnut Too (Location visited)
1501 NE Davis Street
Portland, OR

There are times that restaurants will do almost anything to get an edge over its competitors. Adding something extra can entice customers to come back and, who knows, make it a local attraction. In Vancouver, Cactus Club has celebrity chef as “food architect” but, still not all dishes work for me, not to mention the environment in general. However, such “innovations” can be more basis. As basic as making it visually appealing while maintaining the regular/default recipe. Such is the case of Voodoo Doughnut, a successful doughnut shop in Portland. The premise is these pieces of fried dough serves as a blank palette for some wacky decoration and motif. The question for me would be: how does the doughnut actually taste in the end???

Original location.

Voodoo Doughnuts Too, the location where I ended up purchasing the good.

Now, when such small independent join opens and success hits, it would be only a matter of time it would expand. In the case of Voodoo Doughnuts, it seems being open 24 hours wasn’t enough, it opened a second location in Portland as well as a third location in Eugene, OR. When I originally decided to go to Voodoo Doughnuts, it was already past 8:00 p.m. when there was still a small line. However, after queueing up for over 5 minutes and looking that it wasn’t moving (not to mention the people ahead of me was already waiting for a while, I decided to call it quits). So, before I drove back to Vancouver, I decided to give it another try. Alas, this time, the queue went around the corner! Nope, I wasn’t that willing to wait so, instead, I chose to go to their second location in Portland.

Fortunately, it wasn’t that busy but, still, the same goods were available. So, without further ado…

Clockwise from 12:00, Old Dirty Bastard, Lemon Chiffon Crueller, Marshall Matters, Apple Fritter (below it), Arnold Palmer, Voodoo Doll, Dirty Snowballs, Triple Chocolate Penetration and, in the middle, between the two Dirty Snowballs, the Mango Tango. Below some of these, the Maple Bacon.

And, just in case, some close-ups.

Lemon Chiffon Crueller, Marshall Matters with the Apple Fritter below it.

Mango Tango, Arnold Palmer, Voodoo Doll and Dirty Snowball.

Now, for the most part, I am not that much of a doughnut eater. Sure, once in a while for kicks but, given the option, doughnuts will not necessarily “cut” it. So, when I dropped by Mijune’s place (as she is the first person after border crossing), my expectations weren’t that high. That also brings a side note: there were a couple of hours between I got them and actually eating them. So, there might be small chances things will be skewed due to transit time.

Anyway, for the most part, I didn’t care for them. Reasons are several but, in general, if you take away the fact they have that decoration motif, there isn’t anything else that makes them stand out from the rest. In fact, some added parts takes away from the doughnut instead. For example, in the case of the Triple Chocolate Penetration, the cocoa puffs were flat which resulted in some wacky biting experience. One that went really south was the Mango Tango – in this case, the jam inside had a wacky taste that wasn’t too “natural” and didn’t match the overall “sweetness” of a donut.

Three of them sort of work: the Voodoo Doll which has a raspberry jam filling that actually worked (unlike the mango one), plus the pretzel can provide some savour overtones if required; the Old Dirty Bastard, which chocolate was able to salvage some of the overall doughnut and the Maple Bacon which provides some savouriness, though, without it, as a maple doughnut, it didn’t work (the sweetness was really strange).

Yeah, one of their signature doughnuts, the infamous Cock-N-Balls. When I was at Mijune’s place, her parents arrived and, to say the least, they had a giggle as well. But, how to eat this doughnut? At first, it was cut as if the penis was castrated, just to find out there was no Bavarian cream in the portion. So, we had to end up cutting the testicle side so to show the cream. Well, at least anatomically that is correct…

Actually, I will admit, this doughnut wasn’t bad. I think had the cream distributed more evenly (at the cost of anatomic precision), it might have been easier for consumption. Otherwise, for giggles, oh, well, it works.

Overall, I didn’t believe it was worth the hype. Again, for giggles at first, it would be fine. In fact, I was tempted to write something in Twitter on the lines of: “Who wants some Cock-N-Balls?” and list a couple of food bloggers. Of course, that would have lead to all sort of misunderstandings. But, past that, I am not convinced it is worth the price of admission. In fact, I would rather go to Tim Horton’s. Now, I know some of you might be looking at this funny but, hey, at least when I can do this:

Yes, as suggested by Matt of Vancouver Slop in this post, I went to Timmy’s and order a Canadian Maple donut (actually, I ordered it as part of a meal with a sandwich) and asked for a side of bacon (the challenge was to “convince” them to have the bacon as a side rather than “in” the sandwich. How does it compare? As mentioned by Matt, it is not as crispy, thinner and was a bit more oily. However, it had a more smoke-y taste than the Voodoo Doughnut ones. Furthermore, there is one winning point specially if you are up for cream: The Timmy’s version have cream inside. So, since the novely wore off for me, I don’t have a hurry to go back.

Crème de la Crumb
466 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Whenever there are high notes and/or excitement when a new place opens, I approach it with certain skepticism. More often than not, it is hype; others, the “free” food factor. However, as I mentioned in my Bella Gelateria post, there are people I trust, like Mijune and Sherman. When Mijune wrote about Crème de la Crumb in her Granville Foodie Tour post, I knew I had to visit it, despite sweets are not my first option and a lot of what is sold here are pastries…

So, given my lack of sweets experience, why I choose to come anyway? How about sandwiches? Yes, when Mijune wrote about it, this was the one item that actually caught my attention. So, what does this little shop has to offer? How about this?

Here, Grilled Steak and Blue Cheese Mayo w/ Balsamic Caramelized Red Onion, Arugula, Mushrooms, which was grilled just before it was served. Now, here is something I must mention right away: These are not prepared to order; as their menu states: ” Our gourmet sandwiches are hand-prepared each morning…“. So, if you are those who like to customize your sandwiches, sorry, what you see wrapped in the cool display is what you get.

One thing that really surprised me when I took the first couple of bites is the bread. While I think the cut was a bit too thick, one thing you could notice almost right away is that it is not your run off the mill bread. It wasn’t necessarily a sweet type bread not complete neutral type. But it was the fact there were pieces of walnuts in it. It is quite an interesting departure from the usual ones, indeed.

As for the filling itself, that’s where things were… Interesting. On one side, there was a balance, in the sense you had some greens plus the savoury part and then there is the mushroom. On each bite you could taste a bit of all. However, how the meat was cut was what confused me. Each piece was almost a chunk rather than thin slices. If that was the intent, well, it worked; however, I would have preferred it differently, more on the lines of longer slices (think Philly cheesesteak). In the end it worked though…

Now, a really odd note about my selection: it seems that I should have ordered the turkey one; however, I wasn’t that enthusiastic about the turkey for some reason. Probably because, given the option, I prefer beef over some fowl in a sandwich? (Not that I haven’t had that before but…) Or because I am biased against turkey? Regardless, here is the big question: how does it compare to nearby places? Compared to, say, Bread Garden, I think we have a winner. However, if we compare it to made to order places, like Finch’s or Brioche, well, it is a case of comparing apple to oranges, specially in the case you are looking for something quick (if you are short on time, going to Finch’s is almost madness)

OK, OK, I am not THAT crazy about pastries but, given I was in one, shouldn’t I have tried some as well? Here we have their lemon poppy seed loaf. Just for kicks, I asked for my colleagues to give this one a try and, for the most part, they were quite enthusiastic about it. They found it was moist but without getting really oily (compared to say, some muffins from other places). One thing they liked a lot was the fact there was that contrast between the moist centre and there was a crusty exterior. As for the lemon taste, actually, I find it was lemon-y, though I wished it was more of a “natural” taste but, I guess, it being baked there will be some transformation from that natural taste. And, oh, the poppy seeds… Let’s just say that we were joking about triggering a false positive in drug tests!

For myself, I also got a vanilla bean + pear scone. There was a particular note about this: I wasn’t planning to eat it right away so I asked if there would be any special instructions if I wanted to eat it later. Lydia, the owner, suggested me to put it in a toaster oven until the exterior was getting crunchy (while, in this case, the interior was kept soft and, I dare to say, sweet!). I did exactly that later that day and… Well, my perception of a scone is something neutral, in this case, it was sweet. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised given it has vanilla and pear. However, I didn’t really taste much of the vanilla. Probably if I tried really hard… Or I had things mixed up with the sweetness (it had some level of)? And there were actual pieces of pear but, once again, it was somewhat muted. Now you knew there were there, as you could “feel” it but somehow lost in that sea of sweetness.

On another day, I decided to drop by really early hopefully to get that turkey sandwich to have it as breakfast. Alas, they weren’t available yet so, instead, I went for something “sweet”. Sigh, pushing my limit on sweets…

Here, their banana chocolate chip loaf. Alas, I didn’t eat it right away but later in the afternoon as a “snack” later that day. In a way, it shared a lot of characteristics to the lemon poppy seed bar, i.e., it wasn’t really that oily and moist. However, there was something lost in translation here: I can’t say I could taste the banana. Could it be they weren’t that ripe when they made this batch (considering that gap between green to ripe before spoiling is really narrow). I mean, I knew it was there because I could see the strands/specks but couldn’t taste it that much. In the end, it felt more like a chocolate chips loaf – and there is nothing wrong with that!

Finally, what seems to be something that almost shouldn’t be missed was their cinnamon bun. And that’s what I had for breakfast in the end. When I was growing up, I could eat a couple of these; however, after that desire for sweets wane, so did my tolerance. However, I will admit, despite it looked as a sugar overload (OK, technically it is), they weren’t as sweet as it could be. And, true to its name, the cinnamon was there. Alas, one thing I didn’t quite enjoy was the frosting on top. For some reason, there was something that bugged me and I couldn’t really find out what. So, pieces with frosting were fine, those with, I ended up scrapping it off. I guess it is more on the lines of personal preference.

Overall, the fact I was able to eat some of the sweets despite my low tolerance tells me something. Alas. if it wasn’t because it is somewhat far from my workplace prevents me from coming back for a quick lunch. And, for some pastries, if it wasn’t because of their hours (then again, this is Downtown, a lot of places aren’t open on some days/after certain times). Otherwise, I think Crème de la Crumb is a good option.

Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts – Bakery 101
1505 West 2nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC

OK, despite its odd name, no, I wasn’t in a class. Rather, this is a bakery located in the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, a local culinary school near Granville Island. So, how come I went considering I am not crazy about sweets, not to mention this one in particular, considering all the bakeries found in Vancouver? Well… Blame Yen of OMNOMics on this one, as she recently wrote a blog post about it!

OK, the truth was that, after my lunch in Go Fish, I went back to Atlantic Canada House to see if lines had shortened up. No, no chance so I felt defeated and started going back to take the streetcar (aka Olympic Line) to go back to Downtown. On my way out, I noticed the school and Yen’s post so I thought “I might as well!”.

As soon as you walk pass the door, you can see the bakery. Of course, if you want lunch or dinner prepared by the students, you can go to the restaurant as well. However, I will leave that for some other visit, hehehehe. Since I had a big lunch in Go Fish, that meant I only had space for that much. The question was… What? As in which one of these????

This is for show purposes only – I wasn’t going to order the whole pie!

Now, the fact they were doing some prep, float count and so one, meant they were in a bit of a rush. So, while I was deciding, three different people checked on me. Yes, I felt some pressure in ordering but, c’mon, give me a break, OK? Anyway, since I couldn’t decide, I went for the same item that Yen went for. Behold…

The Pazuwa. Now, don’t ask me what Pazuwa means or into what that translates into. Instead, I can only say it has milk chocolate & hazelnut mousse with cheesecake & chocolate chunks, chocolate sponge cake base with chocolate glaze”. Yes, that is chocolate on chocolate on chocolate!

At first, because it looked shinny, I was under the impression the exterior would be solid… Nope, it was really soft. Wooops, my mistake! Similar to what happened to Yen, I was under the impression it would be a solid piece of cheese cake… My mistake again! Instead, it was small pieces of cheese cake. And I will admit, the combination of the soft mousse and almost as soft cheesecake worked really well. Not only in the texture sense but also in the taste. Whereas one is basic and the other is, well, chocolate, they did not fight each other, instead, the cheesecake added some additional creaminess to the overall concoction. As for the cake, in part it was MIA but the rest of the chocolate made up for that “absence”. In fact, despite it is labelled as milk chocolate, there was enough dark(er) chocolate to give it a slightly bitter taste to it.

Now, I won’t try to even compare it to giants like Ganache Patisserie, Kreations Artisan Cake or Thomas Haas – these guys are pros. However, if this is what students can crank out, I am certain they will be able to provide even better things in the future. In the meantime, if you want pastries from places like the ones mentioned above but do not want to blow the budget, this place offers an interesting alternative.

Sciué
800 W Pender Street (Location visited)
126 Davie Street
Vancouver, BC

Once again, it was during those hectic Winter Olympic days… Actually, they weren’t THAT bad because, thanks to arrangements from my workplace, I was able to finish work earlier which let me wander around the different houses and pavilions (and I blogged about them here). That arrangement also allowed me to go to Downtown core itself for lunch and, for today’s post, one of those places that seems to be close yet a bit too far: Sciué

Truth is, I am not sure what would be the best way to describe Sciué… Coffee shop? Sandwich shop? Restaurant? Sure, the entrance tells you it is also a bakery but, one thing is what they say it is, another is what they actually sell. One thing that you won’t miss is the fact they are Italian based as, well, they sell a lot of Italian goods, including what I ended up ordering for lunch…

Yup, that is pizza alright. But, wait… Why it looks like rectangles? Well, it just happens they don’t sell it by slice, as almost any other places nearby. Instead, think of ~17.5 cm/~7″ wide flat bread. You then tell them how much you want and they will cut a piece for you. That piece is then weighed (for cost) and reheated before it is served to you. Of course, you can’t tell them “I want 100g”; instead, you estimate how much before it is cut. While I am OK with this approach of guessing it yourself the same way you would when ordering cold cuts in a deli, I didn’t quite like the fact I could (easily) find the price per gram in the menu, nor have an idea of how many grams are the slice I am asking for, nor the fact they were quite “fast” at the weight scale (they just put it and removed it right away: I couldn’t really see how much it was that slice). Had I known in advance, I might have hesitated on ordering this for lunch…

As for the dough/base, it is of course, quite different from the one found in Ah-Beetz. The end result is more doughy and chewy, yet the more charred portions had a crunch bite to it. In a funny way, that worked well, as despite the “small” portion, it ended up quite filling due to all the chewing you had to go through. As for taste, I could swear it was somewhat similar to the taste of sourdough…

The toonie is for reference purposes

I will admit I am a fan of almost all form of edible fungi, even if it is the plain/simple button mushroom. In this case, it imparted a meatiness to the slice, which made meat unnecessary. I will admit I wasn’t paying too much attention to the cheese (chances are, it was mozzarella); however, what I will admit is that it wasn’t that milky substances found in other places – it actually tasted like cheese. From that perspective, I will give them some credit…

Slice #2 was one of the “salad” type pizzas. In this case, after the flat bread has been prepared, some garden salad and, in this case, salmon was added to the top. I will admit I got this one out of a whim because, well, it has salmon! The base had a creamy dressing which help the green salad – both complemented the smokiness of the salmon.

Now, this last one is dedicated to Jessica (of Yum-o-Rama). See, some long time ago, Jessica embarked on a quest for cannoli and, in a way, I took over that torch. Unfortunately, I dropped it because, I wasn’t really looking too hard. However, after noticing they have cannoli, I had to order one.

Now, they didn’t fill up upon ordering so, purists, don’t bring your pitchforks, you were warned! As for taste… Well, it was good yet it was OK. The filling was creamy and not too sweet. The cocoa powder didn’t really add much, unfortunately. The part that went sideways was the pastry: think of it more on the lines of a soft (not chewy) cookie. While it kept its shape, after the first bite, everything started to crumble down. In a way, it wasn’t a pretty sight. However, I am sure others won’t mind this and will be happy with this otherwise messy cannoli.

For the most part, the food was above average but one thing wasn’t: price. I am all in for quality food but when I pay almost $10 for the flat bread/pizza plus $3.25 for the cannolo, well, it is a hard hit to the wallet. At the same price, I can think of better lunch options. OK, I will give them some break considering they are in Downtown core and their customer base might not care as much. On the same token, that is the reason I am not that interested in coming back…

Kolachy Co
888 Beatty Street
Vancouver, BC

One of the areas of town I tried to avoid during the Olympic Games was Yaletown. Part of the reason was the amount of people in the area, specially due to LiveCity Yaletown where nightly concerts took place. Now, I did pass by one night but I was on the back area of LiveCity. Probably that explains why pedestrian traffic was minimal… On one of my walks near different exhibits/pavilions without trying to go to Yaletown, I noticed a small shop near Alberta House called Kolachy Co. Kolachy (also spelled kolace, kolach, or kolacky)?! What #@$%@#$ is that?! After checking different sources, it seemed it was one of those cases were the exact item might have evolved so what you actually get is not necessarily what you would expect. Anyway…

Before I walked in, I noticed a sign that explains what they serve – whether if that is actually kolachy in the straight sense of the word, I can’t say. So, this is a case of taking things “as is” rather than aiming for authenticity or what not. So, what do they say is a kolachy?

“I know what you’re thinking!! What the heck is Kolachy co.??? Well, we sell kolachy’s (sic). They are whole wheat buns stuffed with various savoury fillings!! And… Not only do we have great buns!! We also have some of the best soup!

When I read that description, I couldn’t help but think about that infamous Chinese dish: pork buns! I mean, if you just remove “whole wheat” and replace “various savoury fillings” with cha siu or Chinese BBQ, won’t that gives you the basic pork bun?! Anyway, this is what I got

If it wasn’t because I saw them preparing some kolachy, I would have thought they were playing a prank. I mean, doesn’t this look like a regular bun you would get in a supermarket like Safeway, Superstore of Save-on-Foods? Well, a bit heavier and warm but… Otherwise, if you see one of these, there is no way you can’t think it is just your regular bun!

Rather than me biting into it directly, I decided to tear it to see how it is set up inside and compare too…

• A whole wheat bun. Actually, it is quite comparable; however, it is slightly stretchier. I guess that was expected, considering it had to hold the meat filling inside.
• BBQ bun. When I was there, the menu did not contain any pork filling (or as far as I could see). And, after asking them what they would suggested (divided between beef and Thai chicken), I settled for the later. As seen in the picture above, the chicken was actually chunks of chicken. I am not sure what part of the filling make it “Thai”, other than a slight hint of curry and very faint hint of coconut; otherwise, the sauce provided something for the dough so it didn’t ended up being, well, just a piece of bread.

Normally, I would have ordered a second one because, let’s face it, one is not enough for me. However, this wasn’t a “normal” situation and ended up going for that single kolachy. And… Here comes one of my “issues”: The “cheapo” Chinese in me kicked in and thought that, at slightly over $4.25, it is a bit too expensive. After all, you can go to some restaurants in the Downtown Eastside area where you easily get *three* pork buns for the same $$$! Now, by itself, I will have to say it was quite good but I am not sure it is something I will necessarily go back with much enthusiasm for the reason mentioned before. After all, on my way to Beatty Street (where Kolachy is located) from Vancouver West End (where I work), there are shops/restaurants, including (to be open soon) Japadog or (hope it is open by now), Gyu Don Ya. If it wasn’t for that one factor, I might be more interested in coming back.

Ganache Patisserie
1262 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC

When I was writing my “Where to Eat?” posts for Vancouver 2010, one of my suggestions was Ganache Patisserie for pastries. While I trusted Elaine’s opinion, I must also now add I have been there myself a couple of times. So, how come I didn’t write about it? Well, it just happens it is one of those felt through the cracks posts… -_-;;; So, after I wrote that post and on a day walking by the area, I decided to stop by.

Unlike my previous visits, when there was sunlight for better picture taking, this day, it was about sunset time so lightning conditions were a bit mixed. Fortunately (?), the freezer cooling case had some lightning which helped me take these pictures:

I have mentioned previously that I am not a sweets person but that does not stop me from getting some once in a while. The problem is that, given all these options, you have to make the best of that once in a while visit. So, I had a hard time deciding what to order! Did I want something really sweet or bitter? Or something similar to cake or a custard (they had crème brûlée also)? Do I want a strong chocolate flavour or do I want fruit? What about nuts? Decisions, decisions. In the end, I decided to go for…

Opéra à la noisette, dark chocolate ganache, coffee buttercream, hazelnut biscuit, praline crunch. There was no particular reason why I chose this one in particular. It was more on the lines of “OK, I will choose the first one I lay my eyes on!”. Reality is, based on my previous visits, any one would have been good. As for this one, despite the description of a biscuit and praline crunch, there wasn’t anything crunchy I could taste. There was a somewhat thick consistency but not too thick that I couldn’t easily scoop out from the spoon nor too crumbly it will shatter when you try to push that said spoon. Once in my mouth, it was similar to a piece of chocolate when it starts to melt. A balanced combination of flavours, not one overpowering the other and, of course, being the ganache the most noticeable one.

One of the topics of contention is that Thomas Haas vs. Ganache Patisserie double baked croissant comparison. So, I asked for a “croissant”. Unfortunately, what I did not know was that they also have *regular* croissants, like the one above. Argh! But, back to this one, it was quite buttery. Since I bought this one to take home, when I arrived, the paper bag had soaked some of it and was a bit oily. Not necessarily wrong… As for the taste, again, buttery would be the only way to describe it.

Also, I noticed these small bags with financier. As a cake, I think I have had better; however, since I did not actually eat them until ~36 hours after I purchased them, it is possible things might have gone sideways during those hours, so I won’t hold it against them.

Overall, Ganache Patisserie is a good option if you want pastries. They are not cheap but the final product is worth what you pay for. As for a heads up comparison against Kreation Artisan Cake and Thomas Haas, I will have to say the three of them have something to offer – the edge of Ganache Patisserie over the others is location.